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Year of the Snake duo eye spots in World Championships

KUALA LUMPUR: Men’s doubles partner Lim Khim Wah and Goh V Shem were born in the Year of the Snake and enjoyed quite a fruitful time in the just-ended Year of the Dragon.

But now that the Year of the Snake is back, the duo are hoping that their partnership will be even more successful.

The 23-year-olds did not drop a single game in all their six wins as they inspired the Malaysian Tigers Badminton Club to reach the final of the Indonesian Super League on Saturday.

The duo also put up a creditable show to reach the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Korean and Malaysian Opens last month.

This clearly shows that their partnership is well and truly back on track after they had gone separate ways for six months last year.

And now, the duo are determined to confirm their tickets for the World Championships in Guangzhou, China, by continuing with their good show in the German Open (Feb 26-March 3), All-England (March 5-10) and Swiss Open (March 12-17).

The world No. 19 pair know that no one can deny them a place in the world meet if they perform consistently in the three-back-to-back tournaments.

A country can have a maximum of three pairs if all are ranked within the top 24 by the end of April.

“V Shem and I were born in the Year of the Snake and, so far, everything is falling into place for us. We are playing with more confidence,” said Khim Wah, who was extremely pleased with their flawless outing in Indonesia.

“We won all our matches. Although our opponents were not that strong, we didn’t let the pressure get to us. There were several occasions when we had to save the tie as the second doubles pair and we pulled it off. The team unity was good.”

Although they have a good chance to qualify for the world meet, Khim Wah said they won’t take it easy.

“We’ve been entered for three back-to-back tournaments and we’re serious about qualifying for the world meet. Anything can happen in the three outings, so we’re not taking any chances,” he said.

“I’ve competed in the world meet once (at Wembley in 2011) with Chan Peng Soon. We did not qualify on merit but were the first reserves and got in when others withdrew.”

Having won a title with Peng Soon in 2009, Khim Wah is hoping to bag one with V Shem too. And if they do, it will not only assure them of a ticket to the world meet but also break into the top 15 in the world for the first time.